Here and Now

The below was an e-mail from Bible Gateway that was forwarded to me: Moses quivered and doubted. He made excuses about why he couldn't do it. He felt completely unfit and unqualified for such a task. It was risky. But God met Moses at his doubts. He called him to courage and went on to use Moses as an instrument of deliverance, truth, power, and freedom. Yes, Moses made mistakes along the way, but God was powerful in, through, and in spite of each one. Through it all, God led as only God can. He led with power. He led with purpose. He led with love And through Moses, God led His people to a new place of promise and freedom.

The Strength for the Week for 1/28/2012: Our Story           The Bible is full of fantastic stories.   There have been millions of novels written, and not one of them can come close to the amazing adventures, the love stories, the heroics, or the drama that are contained in the pages of our Holy Scriptures.   Even Cervantes’ quirky little adventurer in Don Quixote told one of his companions that their adventures could not compare to the adventures recorded in the Bible.   How true.           Just as an author writing a novel has an ending in mind as they unfold their story, so has God from the dawn of time.   But unlike a novel, which is full of imaginary characters, the Bible is full of stories about real people.   We meet our ancestors both physically and spiritually on the Bible, and we see their victories, their defeats, their righteous deeds, and their sin.   And we see how their decisions changed history time and again.           In reading the story of the Exodus, we see God l

Here is this week's Strength for the Week written by Jenn McDermott! This Little Leaf of Mine There has been a naturally occurring phenomenon taking place on my fire escape for the last 4 months. A leaf has been lodged in an upright position between a metal slat and my window ledge the entire time. Since it is right in front of my window, I have often been tempted to pull it out but I never do for some reason. I mean, it’s not really an eyesore and I’ve become somewhat amused by it actually. It’s just always there. I realized though today that not only is it amusing but it’s also pretty astounding because through all the rain, wind and snow (don’t forget the infamous October snow storm!) this little leaf has never wavered. It has never moved from that upright position! Hearing the weather report that predicted 50 mile an hour wind gusts, I thought to myself “if you are here when I get home tonight, you’re a SFTW”. It was there; in the same position; just chillin’. There are many

My article about bullying in the Nutley Sun today was edited by them.  Here is the article as originally written: Responsibility: the Cure for Bullying One thing about which the Bible is very clear is that even though God is sovereign over all, we as fallen humans are still responsible for our actions.   Just as the first step to getting right with God is accepting responsibility for who we are and what we’ve done, so too can many social issues be solved simply by responsibility being taken by the appropriate parties.   The suddenly prevalent social dilemma of bullying is no exception. But where does responsibility for bullying lie?   I am going to place the responsibility squarely on myself and my wife, along with anyone else raising children.   You see, we need to take responsibility for who we are.   We are parents.   We are the ones our children watch.   We are the example they follow regardless of our instructions otherwise.   Make no mistake, they will do what we do, not what w

Here is this week's SFTW from Pastor Andy: Contentment           Contentment has always been a struggle for me. Between losing jobs to closing businesses, growing expenses, going through a season of unemployment as a husband and father of 2 was not a picnic. Content was a word I would gladly have erased from every dictionary in every language on earth. Ok…that’s extreme, but you get the drift. Me no much happy.           I was thinking about contentment and what it means because I gripe about where I’m at in life sometimes and Paul going though torture and living in the most deplorable jails the world has ever known was content. Philippians 4:11 Paul says that he has learned to be content in whatever state he is in which got me thinking about what contentment really is…or better…what it’s NOT Contentment is not happiness- happiness is a temporary feeling. It’s not joy although it does go hand-in-hand with joy. Joy can bring a tear to your eye. Contentment…not so much. It’s not l